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Category Archives: saattvikee

Bhagavad Gita Verse 33, Chapter 18

21 Friday Jun 2013

Posted by in 18.33, avyabhichaarinyaa, chapter 18 verse 33, dhaarayate, dhritihi, dhrityaa, manahapraanendriyakriyaahaa, paartha, saattvikee, yayaa, yogena

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dhrityaa yayaa dhaarayate manahapraanendriyakriyaahaa |
yogenaavyabhichaarinyaa dhritihi saa paartha saattvikee || 33 ||
 
That fortitude which is accomplished through yoga, which regulates the activities of the mind, life forces and that senses, such unwavering fortitude is saattvic.
 
dhrityaa : by fortitude
yayaa : by which
dhaarayate : regulates
manahapraanendriyakriyaahaa : activities of mind, life forces and senses
yogena : accomplished through yoga
avyabhichaarinyaa : unwavering
dhritihi : fortitude
saa : such
paartha : O Paartha
saattvikee : is saattvic
 
To recap, Shri Krishna classified several components of action into three categories: saattvic, raajasic and taamasic. First we looked at jnyaanam or knowledge, followed by karma or the action itself, the doer or kartaa, and buddhi or intellect. We also saw that jnyaanam gives us a target or a goal to act upon, and the intellect creates a plan to attain the goal. Now fortitude, another aspect of action, is examined in three shlokas, and is classified in the same manner as the other aspects of action.
 
Fortitude is an essential quality of the intellect which is useful in both material and spiritual endeavours. A seemingly simple action like going to the market to buy fruits requires a certain degree of fortitude. Some people will finish that task within no time. Some people will start heading to the market, but get distracted and go to a restaurant instead. Some other people may not want to get up from the bed, and in doing so, either procrastinate or forget the task entirely.
 
Shri Krishna says that the fortitude which is able to focus the mind on the task at hand, and also, is able to restrain the mind, energy and senses from straying away from the task, is saattvic. The task will be conducive to liberation, since it has been prompted by sattvic knowledge. The key quality of such fortitude is that it is avyabhichaarini, which means never wandering, never wavering, never flitting from one thing to another. Ultimately, we have to learn how to master our mind by mastering our thoughts.
 
Now, such immense fortitude can only be accomplished through yoga, which refers to the consistent, repeated practice of keeping our mind engaged in the self. Such strength can only be gained by daily studying of scriptures, daily worship of our deity, maintaining a good diet and so on. If we cannot even restrain our senses for dietary reasons, we will never be able to get to a state where the mind is constantly engaged in the self.

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Bhagavad Gita Verse 30, Chapter 18

18 Tuesday Jun 2013

Posted by in 18.30, bandham, bhayaabhaye, buddhihi, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, kaaryaakaarye, moksham, nivrittim, paartha, pravrittim, saattvikee, vetti

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pravrittim cha nivrittim cha kaaryaakaarye bhayaabhaye |
bandham moksham cha yaa vetti buddhihi saa paartha saattvikee || 30 ||
 
That intellect which knows engagement and withdrawal, what is duty and what is not, fear and fearlessness, bondage and liberation, O Paartha, that is saattvic.
 
pravrittim : engagement
cha : and
nivrittim : withdrawal
cha : and
kaaryaakaarye : what is duty and what is not
bhayaabhaye : fear and fearlessness
bandham : bondage
moksham : liberation
cha : and
yaa : which
vetti : knows
buddhihi : intellect
saa : that
paartha : O Paartha
saattvikee : is saattvic
 
Our jnyaanam, our knowledge, gives us an object to pursue, person to approach, or situation to create. Now it is upto our buddhi, our intellect, to decide the course of action. Typically, for any objectve, we need to decide whether or not we want pursue the objective, and if we do, how should we go about doing it. Shri Krishna says that a saattvic intellect, a saattvic buddhi is one that is clear on those two factors. In fact, Shri Krishna breaks the two factors down into four assessments: assessing one’s stage in life and one’s svadharma first, then whether an action is one’s duty or not, then whether to be fearful or not, and lastly, whether to continue to act or not.
 
As we will see in a later topic in this chapter, the varna aashrama system, the system of aptitude and stage of life, helps us determine whether we should act at all, and if so, which actions should we perform and which we should not. A student should focus on studying, not in creating a family. A soldier should focus on protecting his country, not making money by selling his country out. The varna aashrama system helps address the first two assessments: engagement and withdrawal, and what is our duty and what is not. For example, if we get a new business proposal, we should assess whether we have the aptitude to execute it, but also, whether we are in the right stage of life. It is no use starting a new business when we are in our late sixties.
 
Once the varna aashrama system has approved the performance of an action, we need to test whether the action is motivated by personal reward, or whether it is motivated by selfless service. If we have fear in our mind while performing an action, chances are that a trace of egoism has crept into it. We may be doing the action out of the need for praise and honour. But if our mind is fearless, we can assume that our action is motivated out of selflessness. Lastly, as we perform one action after another, we should always examine whether these actions are taking us closer to liberation, or are further entrenching us in the material world. An intellect that guides us in such a manner is termed saattvic.